Whether you're disappointed it wasn't Alexander the Great (again) or lining up to drink some of that red corpse juice, you've probably got some major feelings on the discovery inside Alexandria's black sarcophagus. Are you interested? Let down? Is there something you were secretly hoping it would be?

Then we want to hear from you.

Unearthed is a charity anthology coming in 2019 from Altrix Books and edited by Kara Dennison (Owl's Flower, Seasons of War: Gallifrey), bringing together creators from all walks of life to tell stories of the contents of any coffin, sarcophagus, mausoleum, or other Big Mysterious Tomb. It can be funny, it can be scary, it can be thought-provoking — just as long as it's interesting.

Who Are We Looking For?

Unearthed is aiming to be a collection featuring creatives from all walks of life. Regardless of your background in education or exploration, we want to see what your minds dream up when presented with an unopened tomb.

That said, we're looking for both writers and artists to fill this volume!

What Are We Looking For?

Stories of up to 7,000 words, centering around the contents of a large sealed container. While it doesn't have to be funereal in nature, it should be something long-buried or long sealed away.

The contents could be a person, a thing, a non-corporeal entity, a feeling... but we do ask that whatever it is be identified at some point in the story. (Please, no "Maybe the real sarcophagus is the friends we made along the way" type stories... You can absolutely put twists in, but please tell us what's in the box!)

The setting is completely flexible. It can be past, present, future. On-world, off-world, fictional world. The climax of the story doesn't even have to be the opening and discovery of the box. Feel free to play with the theme.

Artists: we are looking for black and white art along the same themes.

What's the Charity?

All proceeds from Unearthed will go to ARCE, the American Research Center in Egypt. Founded in 1948, ARCE assists more than a dozen archaeological teams per year, as well as providing housing and materials for scholars in Cairo. They are also heavily involved in the preservation of major historical sites, and offer training programs for conservation and site management. It's our hope that our curiosity and love of history can benefit theirs.

Important Dates

August 15: Last day for pitches.

September 30: The date by which everyone will have heard back on their status.

December 14: Last date to ask for extensions.

December 15: Last day for submissions.

If you do not feel you can make these dates, please look forward to our next open call.

Provisos

We understand that doing unpaid work is not plausible for all creators, and thus wish to reiterate before anyone chooses to sign up that this is a charity anthology. 100% of proceeds will go to ARCE, with neither Altrix Books nor contributors receiving financial compensation. Please take this into consideration before pitching.

We are looking to keep this publication approximately PG-13 in rating. Artists, please take this into account as you plan your work. Writers, please keep language to about Goonies level.

No fanfiction, please. You may not use licensed characters in your work unless they are licensed to you — in which case feel free!

If you want to use public domain characters (Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, etc.), go with a light touch and make sure you bring something new to the table. We're absolutely not against playing with "open-source" casting, but bear in mind there are other people pitching, and if two people try to tell the same story one of you is going to have to change.

High-end knowledge of history and archaeology are not required. However, if you involve the culture and religious practices of a real group of people in your story, please research it at least enough so as to not put your foot in it.

About

Altrix Books is owned by Paul Driscoll and Kara Dennison. Their first book, Seasons of War: Gallifrey, raised More than $1,000 for charity. Altrix now specializes in both original and charity anthologies, and will soon be releasing the first line of their original series The Chronosmith Chronicles.